Obi-wan had one when he was Qui-gon’s apprentice, then Anakin grew one when he was Obi-wan’s apprentice, while Obi-wan cut his own off when he became a Jedi Knight.
Why?
What about the other poor alien Padawans who don’t have hair? Seems kinda hairist to me.
I believe it’s a fairly common meme throughout the world. Chinese, Japanese, Native Americans, etc. various groups have had a thing about a warrior and his top-knot/braid/whatever. Though usually these have you take on the hair when you become a warrior, rather than abandoning it when you finally become one. You’ll see lots of movies where the warrior will cut off his braid as he leaves to become a rogue fighter. Most probably, Lucas liked the image of the “cutting off of the hair” but decided to abandon the idea that this was a symbol of leaving the warrior way for a life of wandering.
No specific knowledge though.
The Padawan braid is basically something that all padawans (well, those with hair, anyways!) have, and when they become Jedi Knights, their braids are cut off. They usually weave colored beads in, different colors denoting what level of training they’re at.
Yikes, sorry for the double posting! If a mod could delete one of them, I’d appreciate it.
You don’t want to know what they braid and then cut off: “Oh come on Padawan K’th’cz’k’th, do you want to be a Jedi or not?. It’s not like your species can’t regenerate organs or anything. Even down there.” This is one reason why Jedi are not encouraged to form relationships.
I think it’s just a weak attempt at Jedi hazing.
Yoda probably had to braid armpit hair – I don’t think he grows much on his head.